OpenAI has signed a contract with the Department of Defense to use its AI models, CEO Sam Altman announced late Friday.
The news comes just hours after the Pentagon severed ties with AI rival Anthropic over the company’s concerns about how the technology could be used for surveillance and autonomous weapons.
The Department of Defense is currently moving to designate Anthropic as a supply chain risk, a significant escalation by the government that could threaten the way the AI startup does business with other U.S.-based companies.
“Tonight, we reached an agreement with the Department of the Army to deploy our model on classified networks,” OpenAI’s Altman said in a post on X.
“In all of our interactions, DoW has demonstrated a deep respect for safety and a desire to partner to achieve the best possible outcome.
“AI security and broader benefit sharing are core to our mission. Two of our most important security principles are the prohibition of domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including autonomous weapons systems. The DoW agrees with these principles and translates them into law and policy, and we have included them in our agreements.”
on friday, President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to stop using Anthropic’s technology. conflict Between the AI giant and the Department of Defense.
“We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and we will never do business with them again,” Trump said. society of truth on friday.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a post on X that he would direct the department to classify Anthropic as a “supply chain risk to national security.”
“Effective immediately, contractors, suppliers, or partners who do business with the U.S. military may not engage in any commercial activity with Anthropic,” Hegseth said in the post.
Anthropic said it would fight back in a statement.
“We will challenge the supply chain risk designation in court,” Anthropic’s statement said, adding that the company had not received “direct communication from the Department of the Army or the White House regarding the status of negotiations.”
“No threat or punishment from the Department of the Army will change our position on domestic mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons.”
